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County · code 19177

Van Buren CountyIowa

Van Buren County is in Iowa and was created in 1836 from Des Moines County. The county was named after Martin Van Buren and has its seat in Keosauqua.

  • Founded1836
  • County seatKeosauqua
  • Named forMartin Van Buren
  • Land area485 sq mi + 5.8 sq mi water
  • Population7,203 2020 Census
  • Parcels mapped14,884 checked 15 October 2026
Open the free map Click any parcel in Van Buren County: acreage, parcel id, address and who publishes the map. No sign-in.

Updated

JeffersonClark, MODavisLee Keosauqua Census outline · seat marked

Where it is

Van Buren on the map of Iowa

Iowa has 99 counties and county equivalents, each with its own records office. Shapes with a page are links.

Adair CountyAdams CountyAllamakee CountyAppanoose CountyAudubon CountyBenton CountyBlack Hawk CountyBoone CountyBremer CountyBuchanan CountyBuena Vista CountyButler CountyCalhoun CountyCarroll CountyCass CountyCedar CountyCerro Gordo CountyCherokee CountyChickasaw CountyClarke CountyClay CountyClayton CountyClinton CountyCrawford CountyDallas CountyDavis CountyDecatur CountyDelaware CountyDes Moines CountyDickinson CountyDubuque CountyEmmet CountyFayette CountyFloyd CountyFranklin CountyFremont CountyGreene CountyGrundy CountyGuthrie CountyHamilton CountyHancock CountyHardin CountyHarrison CountyHenry CountyHoward CountyHumboldt CountyIda CountyIowa CountyJackson CountyJasper CountyJefferson CountyJohnson CountyJones CountyKeokuk CountyKossuth CountyLee CountyLinn CountyLouisa CountyLucas CountyLyon CountyMadison CountyMahaska CountyMarion CountyMarshall CountyMills CountyMitchell CountyMonona CountyMonroe CountyMontgomery CountyMuscatine CountyO'Brien CountyOsceola CountyPage CountyPalo Alto CountyPlymouth CountyPocahontas CountyPolk CountyPottawattamie CountyPoweshiek CountyRinggold CountySac CountyScott CountyShelby CountySioux CountyStory CountyTama CountyTaylor CountyUnion CountyWapello CountyWarren CountyWashington CountyWayne CountyWebster CountyWinnebago CountyWinneshiek CountyWoodbury CountyWorth CountyWright CountyVan Buren County Van Buren
Counties of Iowa · Van Buren highlighted

History

Formed in 1836 from Des Moines County

An old deed may name a county that no longer exists, or a boundary that has since moved.

Van Buren County was created by Wisconsin Territory on December 7, 1836, from Des Moines County. On July 3, 1838, Van Buren County became part of Iowa Territory when it was created from Wisconsin Territory. The county faced a boundary dispute when Missouri expanded its claim into Van Buren County in 1838, a conflict settled in Iowa's favor by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1849. Van Buren County became an Iowa county when the state was created on December 28, 1846.

Boundary changes from the Newberry Library, Atlas of Historical County Boundaries; the 5 that matter most are shown first.

  1. 1836
    Van Buren County created Van Buren created by Wisconsin Territory from Des Moines.
    from Des Moines
    · Wis. Terr. Laws 1836, no. 21, sec. 2/pp. 76-78
  2. 1838
    Gained territory Van Buren gained from Henry, exchanged with Non-County Area 5.
    from Henry
    · Wis. Terr. Laws 1837, no. 67, secs. 1-7/pp. 381-384
  3. 1838
    Became part of Iowa Van Buren became an Iowa Territory county when Iowa Territory was created from Wisconsin Territory. · U.S. Stat., vol. 5, ch. 96[1838]/pp. 235-241
  4. 1843
    Lost territory Van Buren lost part of attached Non-County Area 5 to creation of Appanoose and Davis; Appanoose and Davis attached to Van Buren "for judicial, revenue, and election purposes."
    to Appanooseto Davis
    · Iowa Terr. Rev. Stat. 1843, ch. 34, secs. 1-2/pp. 131-132
  5. 1846
    Became part of Iowa Van Buren became an Iowa county when the state of Iowa was created from Iowa Territory. · U.S. Stat., vol. 9, ch. 1[1847]/p. 117
Show all 11 changes (6 more)
  1. 1836
    Van Buren County created Van Buren created by Wisconsin Territory from Des Moines.
    from Des Moines
    · Wis. Terr. Laws 1836, no. 21, sec. 2/pp. 76-78
  2. 1838
    Gained territory Van Buren gained from Henry, exchanged with Non-County Area 5.
    from Henry
    · Wis. Terr. Laws 1837, no. 67, secs. 1-7/pp. 381-384
  3. 1838
    Changed Non-County Area 5 attached to Van Buren "for judicial purposes." · Wis. Terr. Laws 1838, spec. sess., no. 7, sec. 5/p. 541
  4. 1838
    Became part of Iowa Van Buren became an Iowa Territory county when Iowa Territory was created from Wisconsin Territory. · U.S. Stat., vol. 5, ch. 96[1838]/pp. 235-241
  5. 1838
    Changed Van Buren overlapped by Clark (Missouri) when Missouri legislature expanded Clark into area claimed by Iowa Territory, creating a dispute finally settled in Iowa's favor by U.S. Supreme Court in 1849.
    Clark (Mo.)ClarkU.s.
    · Mo. Laws 1838, p. 22
  6. 1839
    Changed Missouri expanded its claim to part of present Iowa by claiming a strip of land (approximately 10 miles wide) north of the present boundary, between the Des Moines and Missouri Rivers; the encroachment overlapped Van Buren and Non-County Area 5 attached to Van Buren. Iowa continued in control of the disputed area. · Mo. Laws 1838, p. 14
  7. 1843
    Lost territory Van Buren lost part of attached Non-County Area 5 to creation of Appanoose and Davis; Appanoose and Davis attached to Van Buren "for judicial, revenue, and election purposes."
    to Appanooseto Davis
    · Iowa Terr. Rev. Stat. 1843, ch. 34, secs. 1-2/pp. 131-132
  8. 1844
    Changed Davis fully organized, detached from Van Buren; Appanoose and Non-County Area 5 detached from Van Buren, attached to Davis "for election, revenue, and judicial purposes."
    DavisAppanoose
    · Iowa Terr. Laws 1843-1844, ch. 122, secs. 1, 11, 13/pp. 137-139
  9. 1846
    Became part of Iowa Van Buren became an Iowa county when the state of Iowa was created from Iowa Territory. · U.S. Stat., vol. 9, ch. 1[1847]/p. 117
  10. 1847
    Changed Missouri defended its overlap of present Iowa (including Van Buren) in arguments before U.S. Supreme Court.
    U.s.
    · Landers, 647; Thomas, 268-269
  11. 1849
    Changed Missouri's implicit overlap of Van Buren ended when U.S. Supreme Court set the Iowa-Missouri boundary at its present location (no change).
    U.s.
    · Landers, 647-648; Thomas, 269-270

Land and parcels

What the maps cover in Van Buren

Who publishes each layer, how good it is, and when we last checked.

Official
from the office that keeps the record
Good enough
a reliable statewide or national copy
Fallback
a guide only; check the official record
Missing
nothing public found yet

People and land

Van Buren by the Census

Population
7,203 2020 Census count
Housing units
3,500 2020 Census count
Land area
485 square miles
Water area
5.8 square miles
People per sq mi
15 population ÷ land area

Source: US Census Bureau, 2020 Census; US Census Bureau, 2020 Gazetteer Files. Not endorsed or certified by the Census Bureau.

Rules and offices

Who to ask before you build, dig or sell

Official county pages only. We link to them; we do not copy them, because they change.

Inside a city or town, permits usually come from that city rather than the county.

Permits

Zoning and code

County government

See your own lot on these maps

Open Van Buren County on Parcel Chart's free map and click your parcel. Save it with a free account; the full record of your place (site map, projects, documents) is Pro, in early access.

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Questions

Common questions about Van Buren County

When was Van Buren County founded?
Van Buren County was founded in 1836, formed from Des Moines County, and named after Martin Van Buren.
What is the county seat of Van Buren County?
The county seat of Van Buren County is Keosauqua.
Is there an online parcel map for Van Buren County?
Yes. Iowa Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (statewide parcels, mirrored by the University of Iowa) publishes a parcel map of 14,884 parcels, rated fallback here. You can click any parcel on it in Parcel Chart's free map, no sign-in needed.
Has Van Buren County's boundary or name changed?
Van Buren County was created in 1836 from Des Moines County. Since then the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries records 9 later changes, chiefly involving Appanoose County, Davis County and U.s. County.
Who issues building permits in Van Buren County?
The county's page on building permits: Apply for a Permit. Inside a city or town, ask that city first.
Is my lot in a flood zone?
We do not have flood maps for Van Buren County yet. Look up the address on FEMA's Flood Map Service Center, which shows the effective flood map for any lot.

Nearby

Counties next door